I’m splitting this week’s questions into two posts in order to do Fiona’s question justice. The second post will be out tomorrow.

Fiona asks:

Dear Andrew,
When the door to Talonyka first opened, you said “This is weird..even for us”. What did you mean?
– if this isn’t too private a question to ask at this time
Cheers,
Fiona

Andrew replies:

Ah well, leaving aside the noisy imaginary friend Lyd had when we were little and the poltergeist that kept wrecking the house a couple of years ago, the best way to explain is to give you some examples – just remember we can barely go a few days without something like this happening to a least one of us.

When the four of us were eight mum and dad took us camping in Devon. One day we were walking one of the marked trails on the moors when a storm broke out of nowhere and we had to race back to the carpark where we’d started. I remember mum grabbing me and Karen while Dad dragged along Lyd and Dan.

Anyway the sudden clouds made it very dark and the car park was in a little wooded valley which was made even darker by the canopy. So most people would say what happened next was a trick on the light, but any of us will tell you it wasn’t.

As we ran through the trees I saw dozens of little people watching us. They were smaller than I was then but proportioned like adults and partially see-through and indistinct. I don’t know why but they made me feel ill just looking at them. They didn’t seem to be able to come onto the path, but when they reached for us their arms extended like… like… hum… like elastigirl’s arms in the Incredibles and one of them did grab my t-shirt and tear it.

When we finally got back to the car we all asked about what we’d seen but mum and dad wouldn’t answer. I know that they saw them though because Dad jumped over one’s arm while we were running.

Oh and one other thing as soon as we reached the car park the storm vanished. Not ended mind you, vanished… the sky was cloudless and everything was bone dry except us… we were soaked.

We got some strange looks let me tell you.

Another less extreme example. A few weeks ago I was going to my friend Tony’s house to fetch my mobile phone, because I’d left it there like an idiot. He lives a good twenty minutes walk from our house, but it was a lovely day so I was going to walk anyway. I called him on the house phone to tell him I was coming, stepped out of our front door and nearly broke my nose when I banged into his front door! When he saw me on his doorstep seconds after he spoke to me on the phone he thought I was pulling some sort of joke – until he checked the number of the last caller and realised it really was from our landline. Then he went white, threw my phone at me and slammed the door in my face. He hasn’t spoken to me since.

I mentioned it to Lydia and she said similar things had happened to her, but didn’t elaborate.

Then there was the time the new shower dumped blood on Karen. Not rusty or otherwise red water but real blood. She freaked and we rarely freak at anything.

And I swear we’ve picked up at least three phantom hitchhikers in the last two years… well dad did but we were there.

And then there was that thing with the petrol station only a couple of days before the gate opened… but that’s a story for another time I think. (Author’s note: that will be in the prologue.)

By the way, I think you guys are awesome, the way you take things in stride. Unlike the typical young person who, when lucky enough to have the experience of being transported to a amazing magical world, spends the whole time whining about how to get home.